The Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) at Wits University in Johannesburg has launched its 2016 ICT Skills Survey, the 7th edition and due for release in May, to better understand the current skills priorities and gaps within SA's ICT sector.

Adrian Schofield, Manager, Applied Research Unit, JCSE, says the organisation continues to express its concern at the lack of improvement in South Africa's basic education for the majority of pupils, as well as the levels of transformation.

"Exposure to, and familiarity with, ICT for all learners is essential to equip them to adapt the modern tools to their daily lives. The research programme for 2016 will examine to what extent these issues have been addressed in the local market and the influence of change on other markets supply of ICT skills in South Africa," he says.

The JCSE says a vital component of the report is compiled using data gathered from respondents to two online survey questionnaires. The first online survey is directed at the employer community while the second one is directed at practitioners in any capacity and at any level.

"We seek to understand how companies, and other organisations, recruit, train and retain the skills they need and what the pain points are and how they perceive changes in the future," added Schofield.

The survey is open until 30 April 2016 and is put together with support from the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA), the Information Technology Association (ITA), and Eduflex's Virtual Assessor.

Schofield says data gathered will greatly assist the policy and decision makers focused on closing the skills gap in South Africa.

He confirms that previous editions of the survey were used by researchers and decision-makers to understand the dynamics of talent supply. "The survey assisted in understanding the extremely complex environment of ICT extending from technology support to enterprise architecture, from data capture to cloud computing, from digital design to broadcasting."